Last weekend our group experienced the Palio, a centuries-old celebration here in Siena ( Read more... )

Well, it has taken me forever to get up a post from here in Siena, but here we finally go. Internet access here is more expensive than the states, so it's less of a luxury ( Read more... )

As I drove back from Montana last night, I was haunted by a dread of impending doom. There were several reasons. The first might be that my family did not want me driving at night, especially having been awake the whole day before. When my mom worries, it makes me worry. Plus, I still have some residual fears from my own car wreck a few months ( Read more... )

What is it with rodents and me the days?? I opened up the glovebox in my car today to find a mouse had shredded the napkins and toilet paper I had in there for a nest! No, I didn't find the mouse. But what animal takes up residence in a vehicle? Weird ( Read more... )

One of my favorite things about going back to Montana is to see my brothers. I've been staying with Jared, who is 20 and just finished his first year of college. He has been working really hard recently, and was pretty tired tonight. He was laying on the couch, and I started reading Emma to him. He fell asleep by half of the first page ( Read more... )

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted. It's been hard for me to get into a rhythm recently. So much has been going on with preparations for Italy and coming back to Montana to raise support. It feels like there's a lot for me to catch up on right now ( Read more... )

As of yesterday, I now have roommates to continue the Testosterhome tradition! Two guys from Imago, Nate Grubbs and Alan Peterson will be moving in early June. Michael, a guy from California is moving up for a couple months this summer, then another staff guy will take over in August. It's a big relief to have it all set up now. I'm looking ( Read more... )

The other night I watched Better Off Dead, a thoroughly entertaining comedy from 1985 starring John Cusack. I have a couple of friends that LOVE the 80s, which makes this film one of their favorites. After watching the movie, I looked around on the internet a little about the movie. Movies like this one always have a devoted following that spend ( Read more... )

Augh, the rat hasn't gone away, or stepped in the trap yet. We've seen it twice more now. And heard it numerous times. A friend of mine discouraged me by saying, "if you see one rat, that means there's a hundred more you don't see." So Eric bought more traps and poison today. One of the type of traps he bought is sticky. If the rat steps into ( Read more... )

I always enjoy finding truth in unexpected places. The punk band Green Day is not always the most clean, or even contemplative in their lyrics, but you can see the singer Billie Joe's search for meaning and fulfillment come out in this song. There's only one place he can look to truly find "a brand new hope." (Romans 5:5) I'm so glad I have hope ( Read more... )